Ballroom Dancing
by liler91
Summary: After what happened in More than a Zombie to Me, Lilly and Miley both still like Jake. It's time to ballroom dance in gym, and Jake choses Miley. Will Lilly realize that Oliver is better for her? totally Loliver and Make pairings.
1. Sup?

**a/n-heyy guys this is my new story! it's a litte sloppy, cuz i dont really know where it's going. but here ya go anyway.**

Chapter 1: Sup

"Sup, Lilly." Jake Ryan, the star of Zombie High, said to Lilly, giving her a head nod. Lilly smiled, falling into her locker.

"Sup, Jake, sup?" she said nervously, but he had already walked off. I rolled my eyes. I know that he's famous and everything, but why did Lilly have to like him?

"What?" she turned to me, noticing me roll my eyes.

"Nothing," I turned away, throwing a binder in my locker.

"Oliver, what?" she asked, noticing that I was angry.

_I'm mad that you like Jake and not me. _"Nothing, I'm just having a bad day." I lied.

"Well, cheer up, 'cause we get to ballroom dance in gym!" she sang happily.

"Oh joy." I said sarcastically, as we walked into the gym. Since we were dancing, we didn't have to change clothes.

"Hey, guys!" Miley greeted as we sat down on the bleachers. She wasn't normally in the same gym class as Lilly and I, just at the same time. But during certain units, like dancing, we combined gym classes.

"Hey!" Lilly replied.

"Hi," I said grumpily.

"What's your problem?" Miley asked.

"He's having a bad day." Lilly answered for me.

"Ok, class, listen up!" Mr. Armstrong, our gym teacher, said. Mrs. Gold, the other class's teacher, was standing next to him.

"Is everybody ready to dance?" she asked. Some kids cheered, some groaned. I stayed quiet. You see, I really didn't mind dancing. The past years we square danced, and that was always fun. But Jake Ryan is in the class that's combined with us, and every girl is gonna be all over him. I admit it, I'm jealous. Especially because Lilly likes him.

"Ok, pick your partners, and if you don't have a partner we'll pick one for you." announced Mr. Armstrong.

I sat there, figuring that every girl would say no if I asked since Jake Ryan was in the same class and they were waiting to be asked by him. I watched as Jake approached Miley and Lilly, who looked up at him in awe.

"Hey, guys. Miley, you wanna be my partner?" he asked, and poor Lilly's face fell. She didn't deserve that. Miley looked at Lilly. I could tell Miley was really happy that he asked, and she wanted to say yes right away. But ever since what happened between Miley and Lilly at the last dance, she didn't want to hurt Lilly again.

Lilly put on a fake smiled. "Go ahead, have fun."

"Are you sure?" Miley asked, not wanting her to get mad.

"Positive!" she smiled.

"Thanks, Lilly, you're the best!" Miley hugged her tight and took hold of Jake's hand. As soon as Miley turned around, Lilly's smile dropped. The disappointed girls who wanted to be Jake's partner all found other jealous guys to dance with.

"Wanna dance with me, Lil?" I asked, figuring it was worth a shot.

"Sure," she smiled, making me smile too. The teachers made the boys line up on one side of the gym, facing our partners. Mr. A. taught the boys their part while Mrs. G. taught the girls their's. Then they made us all try it out.

Lilly and I were dancing right next to Jake and Miley, and I noticed that Lilly couldn't stop staring at them. She looked so sad and innocent; I just wanted to hug her. Of course I didn't, but I sure wanted to.

"So, Miley, what do you say about a date tonight? You, me, and the movie of your choice." I overheard Jake ask Miley, and I knew Lilly heard too.

Miley smiled wide, and we both knew she wanted to say yes. But being good old Miley, she didn't. "I'm sorry, Jake, I really like you, but…" Miley started, and I knew it was paining her to say no.

"You don't have to answer now! I know what happened at the dance, and I don't want to come between you and Lilly, but I really like you. I can't help it."

Miley grinned even wider. "I'll definitely get back to you on that." Lilly looked down, and slowed down on her dancing.

"Lil, you Ok?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." she smiled, but I knew that was fake. "I'm gonna go get a drink." Lilly said, walking away from me and telling the teacher where she was going.

I knew she wasn't really getting a drink, and I knew that she wouldn't want me following her. But I did anyway.

"Mr. Armstrong, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, be quick." he said, and I walked out of the gym and down the hall. Lilly was sitting against the wall next to the water fountain. She didn't notice me until I slid down next to her.

"Hey, Oliver," she sighed.

"Hey, Lil," I answered. "Whatcha doin'?"

She sighed again. "You know, I wanna be happy for Miley. I know that she likes him more than anything, and he feels the same way. But I can't help but be jealous."

"You have every right to be jealous."

"Yeah, but I just want Miley to be happy. And she's gonna ask me about the date. And I _so_ want to tell her to say yes. But at the same time I just wanna tackle her. Is that bad?" she asked, smiling.

I laughed. "A little," I said, standing up.

"I guess I'll just tell her to go for it." she decided as I pulled her to her feet.

"If it means anything, Jake's missing out on a great girl."

She smiled. "Thanks, but he's getting Miley, who's a lot better than me," she said as we walked back into the gym. We danced for a little while longer, and soon the class was over.


	2. Hey, Lilly

**a/n-ok, so i kno nothing really eventful happened yet, but as i said i havent got the hwole story figured out yet. BUT there will def. be more ballroom dancing to come. in fact, i just got an idea as i wrote that. wooh so here's the second chapter, and thanks so much 4 reviewing! sry it took me so long to get up, i get madd amounts of homework. especially honors chem. ew. but anyway, here ya go**

Chapter 2: Hey, Lilly

"Hey, Lilly, can I talk to you?" Miley asked her as we walked to out lockers. It was the last period of the day.

Lilly sighed, already knowing what she would say. She prepared herself. "Sure, what is it?"

"Uh…Well…Jake asked me to go on a date with him tomorrow night, but I know you like him and-"

"Go for it. I don't like him anymore, remember?"

"Lilly, I don't want to hurt you. I will gladly tell him no if you don't want me to."

"Miley, he really likes you, and you really like him. I'm telling you to say yes."

Miley sighed. "Are you positive it won't bother you?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll just hang out with Oliver, it'll be fun." Sweet! Lilly wants to hang out with me! And Miley won't be there! Not that I don't love Miley, but I want some alone time with Lilly.

"Lilly, you are the greatest friend anyone could ask for! Maybe you and Oliver could come with Jake and me?" Miley suggested, which wouldn't bother me at all. That would be a double-date, wouldn't it?

Lilly didn't seem too excited. I don't think she really wanted to see Jake and Miley together. "Nah, it's Ok. You guys have fun." Lilly said. Miley hugged her and went off to find Jake before he left.

"You're a good friend, Lil." I said, putting my arm around her as we walked out of the school.

She sighed. "Thanks. So what do you wanna do tonight?"

"Doesn't matter to me." I shrugged.

"Well, I'll be home alone tonight. You wanna come over and chill?"

"Yeah, definitely." Perfect.

"Sweet. You can come over at like, seven."

"Sounds good." I agreed. It was going to be a great night. When Lilly and I were alone, we flirted a lot more, and we were very touchy-feely. I was excited! I lived right next door to her, and our windows were facing each other. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. Whenever I'm not feeling good I just look out my window and if I see her moving around, I feel better.

Once I got home, I took a two and a half hour nap. I woke up at around 5:30, and I was still tired. I watched some TV until I was called down for dinner at six. I didn't eat much of the meatloaf; I just wasn't very hungry. After dinner, I took a shower and changed my clothes.

I could see Lilly in her room when I looked through my window. Her hair looked freshly straightened. She also looked…almost sad. I didn't have a great view, but she just didn't look like the usual happy-go-lucky Lilly. I noticed her window was open, so I opened mine to talk to her.

"Ooh, Lilly!" I called out.

She walked over to the window and smiled. "Hey, Oliver. You comin' over now?"

"Yeah, I'll be right over." I smiled and closed my window. I sprayed myself with axe: essence before I left, because I knew that was Lilly's favorite kind. "Bye Mom, bye Dad." I said, trying to leave the house as fast as possible. They never liked when I went to Lilly's alone.

"Wait, where are you going?" my nosey mom asked.

"To Lilly's. Bye!" I tried to make a run for it but she called me back.

"No way, her parents aren't home." my mom stated. Why did she have to be such good friends with the Truscotts?

"Mom, come on! I already told Lilly I was coming."

"Well, tell her she can come over here."

"But we don't have a finished basement with a big screen TV!"

"Oliver, you're not going over there alone."

"Why not!" I demanded.

"Is Miley going?"

"Well, no…but-"

"I say let him go." my dad chimed in.

"Wil, why would you say that?"

"They're best friends! What do you think they're gonna do?" my dad defended me as I watched them argue back and forth.

"Two teenagers in an empty house? I don't approve of that and I know the Truscotts wouldn't either."

"What's the difference between them hanging out at the mall versus hanging out there?" Dad asked.

My mom sighed. "Fine, you can go. But be home by 11."

"12," I pushed.

"11:30," my mom argued back.

"11:45!" my dad spoke up. "Now go!"

"Thanks, see-ya!" I bolted out of the house. I walked to Lilly's and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, Lilly appeared. "Hey, you know you don't have to knock."

I shrugged. "I didn't want to be rude."

"Well, come on in." she opened the door wider and I walked right on through. I took off my shoes and socks, and we walked into her basement.

"I like your hair." I complimented, sitting on the couch.

"Thanks." she smiled, sitting next to me. "You smell good."

I grinned. "Thanks." We sat back on the couch and turned on the TV. I tried to watch, but all I could focus on was how she smelled. "You smell good, too." I said.

"Thanks, it's coconut lime body spray," she smiled.

"Smell's good." I smiled also.

She giggled and replied, "Not as good as you." I laughed at this, and her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered it, putting it on speaker phone.

"Hey, Lilly!" It was Miley. "I'm in the bathroom right now. Jake is amazing!"

Lilly's smile soon faded, but she didn't let Miley know that. "Wow, that's great!" she said.

"So what are you doing?"

"Hanging out with Oliver! We're having a great time." Lilly said, trying to make it seem like we were actually doing something.

"Cool, where are you guys?"

"In my basement."

"Oh, I gotta go, Jake's probably wondering where I am. I love you and I'll call you later. Tell Oliver I said hi."

"K, later." They hung up.

"Lil, I really think you should forget about Jake." I told her, noticing that she was no longer smiling.

"I know. It's just hard to get over him."

"Well, you deserve a lot better than him."

"Thanks, Oliver." she smiled. "Let's watch a movie."

"Alright, what do you wanna watch?"

"Let's watch Saw II."

"Sweet, put it in." I said, grabbing a blanket. Lilly put in the movie and turned off the lights. She got under the blanket with me, and we began watching the movie. Lilly didn't normally get scared during horror movies, but the Saw movies always got to her.


	3. Cool

**a/n-uneventful, yet again, i kno i kno. but there is def. lots of loliverness in this one! **

Chapter 3: Cool

At a scary part, Lilly grabbed my hand and didn't let it go. At a gory part, she buried her head into my shoulder and I had to tell her when it was over. By the end of the movie, her head was resting on my shoulder and I had my arm around her. It was only 10:45, so we had another hour together left.

"Sorry about that." Lilly said, lifting her head off my shoulder. I took my arm off from around her. _You don't have to be sorry._

"It's no problem," I assured her.

"So…what do you wanna do now?" Lilly asked, but her cell phone rang before I could answer. Knowing it was Miley, she put it on speaker phone. "Hey, Miley."

"Lilly, that was the most amazing date I've ever been on! First, he picked me up in his limo and we went to see a movie in his own private theater! Then, he took me out to dinner at the most romantic restaurant in the world!" Miley squealed.

"Wow, Miley. That's awesome."

"I didn't even get to the best part yet! He walked me to my doorstep and he kissed me! How great is that?"

"So great!" Lilly said sarcastically, but Miley didn't know that.

"Jake asked me out again tomorrow night, and he said he'd be happy to double with you and the boy of your choice."

Lilly was silent. Obviously she didn't want to see her dream guy out with her best friend. "Yeah, that'd be great." she said, not even forcing herself to smile anymore.

"So what'd you do with Oliver?"

"He's still here. We watched Saw II."

"Having fun?"

"Yes, we are having _so_ much fun!" Lilly exaggerated to make it seem like she didn't care about Jake anymore.

Miley laughed. "Ok, well, I need to get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow to let you know what we're doing, K?"

"Alright, bye." Lilly hung up. She sighed and looked at me. "Wanna be my date?"

I nodded. "Yeah, why not."

"Cool. Thanks for hanging out with me tonight; I needed to forget about Jake for a while."

"That's what I'm here for." I shrugged, making her laugh. "So what should we do now?"

"Let's go in my room and find something to do." Lilly said, hopping off the couch. "It's too cold down here anyway." With that, we traveled upstairs to her room. Of course, she had a big poster of Jake Ryan hanging on the wall. He was pointing his fingers out like guns, and wore a cocky smile.

Lilly must have seen me glaring at the poster, because then she spoke up. "I guess I should take that down." she said, standing on her bed so she could reach the top of the poster. "I thought you liked Jake? Didn't he say you were the second coolest guy in school?"

"It's not that I don't like him, I'm just a little sick of him." I told her, which was true. I watched as she folded up the poster and put it in her desk drawer.

"Oh…well, you're not jealous that Miley likes him, are you?"

"What! No! Why would you think that?"

"Well, I've always thought you kinda liked her…"

"No way! I mean nothing against Miley; she's just not my type."

Lilly nodded, understanding. "So what is your type?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just not Miley."

"Oh." she said.

"What's your type?" I asked, turning the tables on her. Maybe I could change myself into the kind of guy she liked.

She let out a dreamy sigh. "Someone who can always make me laugh and who's always there for me. Someone who's always honest with me and that I can trust with my life. And someone who knows me, inside and out. And someone who will never break my heart."

"Like Jake Ryan?" I asked.

Lilly shook her head. "He can make me laugh, but he's not always there for me, and I definitely don't think I can trust him with my life. Plus, he doesn't know me at all. At least I don't think he does. And besides, he's the one who broke my heart in the first place, right? If you could even call it a broken heart. But why would I want to be with someone like that?"

"'Cause he's a TV star and you've liked him since he came to school."

Lilly shrugged. "Well, I want to get over him. If he and Miley actually become an official couple, neither of them would want me drooling over him."

_Neither would I._ "That's true. So how are you gonna get over him?"

"Avoid him and hang out with you." she smiled, making me smile too.

"What about the whole double date thing tomorrow?"

"Well, I'll just avoid eye contact with him."

"What if he asks you a question?"

"Then I'll answer and continue talking to you."

Oh, how I loved this girl. "Cool," I said.

"Cool," she nodded, smiling.


	4. WalkieTalkies and Dresses

**a/n-hey, sry if this chapter is messed up. something weird is goin on and it keeps deleting what i write and mixing it. idk it's weird, but hopefully it will stay right this time. enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Walkie-Talkies and Dresses

For the rest of the night we just hung out like normal friends do. At 11:45 we said our good-byes and I went home.

"How's Lilly?" my dad asked as I walked in the door.

"Good." I said, not wanting to talk. It's not that I was mad, but does anyone actually want to talk to their parents? No.

"What'd you guys do?"

"Watched a movie." I replied, going upstairs to avoid further talking. I sat on my bed, which was right next to the open window, when I heard a voice.

"Oliver!" I recognized it as Lilly's.

I looked out and smiled. "Hey, Lil. Need something?"

"No, I'm just bored. Sorry if you're sick of me."

I laughed. "I could never get sick of you."

"Hey, turn on your walkie-talkie so I don't feel like the whole neighborhood is hearing us talk."

I laughed, grabbing the walkie-talkie from under my bed. For my eighth birthday I got a set of really nice walkie-talkies. You could have great reception for at least two miles away. So in third grade, since Lilly and I were best friends, we decided to each keep one in case we ever wanted to talk to each other at random times. This was probably the first time in about two years we were using them.

"Testing, testing. One, two, three. Do you read?" I smiled as I said this. When we were little, that's what I always said as soon as I turned on the talkie. And she would always reply with the same thing.

"Copy that," she said smiling. Same old Lilly.

"We're losers," I laughed, and so did she.

"Losers have more fun." she said.

"That's true." I agreed. We talked for a while longer until my talkie was getting low on battery. "Hold on, Lil. My battery's going. I'll be right back." I told her, running to get batteries. When I came back, Lilly wouldn't answer.

"Lil? Lil you there?" I asked. When I got no reply, I figured she'd fallen asleep. "Goodnight, Lil." I laughed.

"Night, Oliver." she finally answered, turning off her walkie-talkie.

I woke up the next morning at 11. I did the usual morning stuff and got ready for the day. My cell phone rang when I got out of the shower, so I ran to get it with a towel wrapped around my waist.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Oliver, it's Miley."

"Hey, Miley, what's up?"

"You're gonna be Lilly's date for tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

"I see. So what's the deal with you two?"

"What do you mean?" I played dumb, but I knew what she wanted to know.

"I just want to know if they're something going on between you two."

"Oh, well there's not. We're just friends."

"I'm sure. But I have to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"Is Lilly really Ok with me going out with Jake?"

"She will be. Just give her time."

"Do you think I should stop seeing him until she's Ok with it? 'Cause I really don't want to hurt her."

"She really wants to get over him. Or at least that's what she told me. She even took the poster down of him that was on her wall."

"Whoa, that is big. So you think going out will be Ok?"

"I don't know, I guess. I mean, if she didn't want to go she would have said so, right?"

"Right. Ok, thanks, Oliver. Oh and, dress a little nicer than usual. I don't know what Jake has planned, he said it was a surprise, but we shouldn't dress casual."

"Gotcha. What time?"

"7:30 sharp. Be ready to do anything, who knows what Jake has up his sleeve."

I laughed. "Ok, see ya then."

The day went by like any other Saturday. I actually decided to do homework so I could have all Sunday to just chill. At 7, I took another shower and got dressed. I wore nice jeans and a red polo. That's dressing up, right? Or did I need something dressier? No, that was too casual. After that I put on a simple white shirt with a suit jacket over it, keeping the jeans. I have to say, I looked good. At 7:29, I sprayed myself with axe and stepped outside. I walked down the driveway just as Lilly was walking down her's, with Miley on her trail.

I saw her, and I was amazing. My jaw must have dropped 20 feet, and my eyes were probably all the way out of my head, but I didn't care. In all my life, I had never, _ever_, seen Lilly Truscott in a dress, without wearing jeans underneath like she did when she was Lola. I mean, I saw her in a skirt once, but a _dress_? It looked….amazing. **(a/n-if u go to and click on homecoming dresses 2006 and then click on junior dresses under $50, Lilly's dress is the 4th one on the top style #1548820 Miley's is the second one on the second page style #1595402)**

"Put your tongue back in your mouth, Oliver," Miley said, walking over to me and snapping me back to reality. As much as I tried to stop staring, I couldn't. Fortunately, Jake pulled up in his awesome hummer limo before Lilly could catch me staring. Jake stepped out and held the door open for everyone.

"Oliver, my man, lookin' more fly than ever!" He said to me as I got in the limo. "And Lilly, stunning as always." This made Lilly blush, but he didn't notice. Then Jake grabbed Miley's hand and brought her into the limo. "You look beautiful." he complimented, making her giggle.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "So where are we going that we had to get so dressed up for?"

"You'll see." Jake grinned, giving the chauffeur the signal to start driving.


	5. Chilly

**a/n-ok, i kinda like this chapter so i hope u guys do too! thanks 4 all the reviews!**

Chapter 5: Chilly

Jake put his arm around Miley as soon as we began driving. Miley smiled at him, but looked uncomfortable. She looked to Lilly, but Lilly wasn't looking back. So Miley allowed him to keep his arm there.

Later on, Lilly noticed his arm, and looked away rolling her eyes. I smiled at her, which made her smile too. Soon, the limo slowed down and we stopped. Jake got out first to help Miley out. He offered to help Lilly but she refused to take his hand.

"So where are we?" Miley asked.

"This is Chilly. It's a dance club for teenagers only. I remembered how much you said you love to dance, so I thought I'd bring you here."

"Awe, Jake, that's so sweet! Thank-you!" she said, linking arms with Jake.

"Anything for you, Miley." Jake winked.

Lilly rolled her eyes once more, but linked her arm with mine to show that she didn't care. Miley looked back at us and winked, causing me to roll my eyes. With that, we walked into the dance club.

"Yo, Jake!"

"Hey, Jake!"

"Sup, Jake?"

Jake gave piece signs and pointed his hand like a gun at the people that greeted him.

"Why aren't they attacking you?" Lilly asked.

"I come here a lot. At first they were all star struck, but now they accept me as one of their own." Jake smiled. "So Miley, want to dance?"

"Yes!" Miley squealed. "I mean, sure, why not?"

Lilly smiled softly at Miley as she grabbed Jake's hand. Lilly and I decided to just go sit down in a booth and talk.

"Hey, Oliver?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, Lil?"

"Do you…Never mind."

"No, what is it?"

"No, never mind. It's stupid."

"No it's not."

"Do you think…I'm pretty?"

"Yes!" I blurted out instantly. "I mean, yeah."

She sighed. "You're just saying that. And now I sound so stupid. I'm gonna go get a drink."

"Wait, Lil," I followed after her. She didn't turn around.

"Hi, can I get a soda?" Lilly asked the person at the counter.

"What kind?"

"Mountain Dew?"

"Regular, code red, livewire, or black cherry?"

"Code red, please."

"Coming right up."

"Lil, is something wrong?"

"Nope."

"You know I really did mean what I said."

"Thanks…" Lilly said, still not believing me.

I decided to let it go, and Lilly got her drink. I got one too, and we went back to the booth.

"So do you think I'm pretty?" I asked her laughing, trying to lighten the mood. And it worked; she cracked up.

"You're beautiful," she laughed.

"Hey, guys!" Miley greeted happily, sliding into the rounded booth.

"Aren't you guys gonna dance?" Jake asked.

"Wasn't planning on it," I said.

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" Miley asked.

"Yeah we can." Lilly answered, but Miley grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor. They soon disappeared into a crowd of people.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Jake asked as soon as they were gone.

"…Sitting?"

"Dude! Why aren't you dancing with Lilly?"

"I don't know."

"Man, you got a lot to learn."

"About what?"

"Girls, dude! You were sitting in a booth with a gorgeous girl and you didn't do anything!"

"That's because she doesn't like me like that."

"Oh really? So what did you guys talk about?"

"Well, first she asked if she was pretty and-" I started but he cut me off.

"Exactly!"

"Exactly what?"

"You were being an idiot and wouldn't give her a compliment, so she had to go fishing for one. You did say yes, right?"

"Of course, I'm not _that_ stupid."

"But she didn't believe you, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Made that mistake when I was young and naive. Now I know that they only believe compliments when they don't have to ask."

"That is so…actually that makes sense."

"Exactly. So what are you gonna say when Lilly comes back?"

"Uh…want another drink?"

"No!" Jake was frustrated. "Just ask her to dance, Ok?"

"But there aren't any slow songs."

"…So? That's better, Oliver."

"Yeah, but, I can't."

"Why?"

_'Cause I suck at dancing._ "I-Oh look the girls are back, hey girls!" Good save.

"You wanna dance again, Miley?"

"Actually, I'm kind of thirsty. Let me just go get a drink."

"No, no! I'll get it, you stay here."

Miley smiled huge as he left to go get her a drink. "Is he to die for or what?"

"He's awesome, Miley." Lilly smiled gently.

"So why aren't y'all dancing?"

"I don't do fast songs." I stated.

"Me neither." Lilly agreed.

"Lilly, I was just out there with you and you were shaking your junk, so don't even tell me you don't like fast songs."

Lilly laughed and blushed. "Well, that was a good song." she defended herself.

"So what about you, Oliver, why don't you 'do' fast songs?"

"Simple; I can't dance."

"Oliver, the guy's job is easy. All you do is stand there." Miley laughed at my red face.

"Actually, it's harder than it seems," Jake laughed, coming to the booth and setting Miley's drink on the table in front of her.

Miley took a couple sips of her drink and grabbed Jake's arm. "Let's go." she ordered, pulling him away to dance.

Just as they left, some girl came up to us. She looked about our age, maybe older, and had fiery red hair. "Hey there, hottie. Wanna dance?"

"Hey, back off _Red_, he's not interested!" Lilly ordered, surprising me.

"Hey, _Blondie_, he can speak for himself!" she snapped right back. The both crossed their arms and stared at me, waiting for me to answer.

"Uh…yeah, sorry but I'm not interested."

"Whatever." The redhead said, walking away.

Before I could ask her what that was about, a guy walked up to the table. We'll call him Jerk. "Hey pretty lady, what's your name?"

"Drop dead!" I snapped before Lilly could answer. I really gotta learn to control my words.

"Whoa, take it easy man, I didn't know she was taken." Jerk said. "Ey yo, Red!" he called out, signaling for the redhead to wait up for him.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

The DJ began talking before I could say anything. "Alright, alright, I'm gonna take it down a notch for y'all. I know y'all are tired, so this is a slow song for anyone who wants it."

"Um…wanna dance?" I asked.


	6. What's in it For Me?

**a/n-i like this chapter too (maybe becuz im using it to procrastinate on hw?) haha, so i hope u guys will like it! im lovin the reviews as always!**

Chapter 6: What's in it For Me?

"Yeah, sure!" Lilly smiled, and we both went out on the dance floor. Besides dancing in gym class, this was the first real dance I ever had with Lilly. Ok, so our moms made us dance at my birthday party in kindergarten. But that wasn't _real_. We were forced to do that. This time, it was on our own.

We slowly swayed back and forth. Her arms were around my neck and my hands on her waist. I wanted to talk, because the silence between us was kind of awkward, but I didn't know what to say. I refused to make eye contact for fear of further awkwardness. I wonder if she felt like she had to say yes. Maybe she didn't really wanna dance with me. Uh-oh, what if my hands are sweating? She'll probably think I'm disgusting.

I put that nagging thought in the back of my head and tried to focus on what really mattered. I, Oliver Oken, was dancing with the girl I'd had a crush on ever since she held my hand in pre-school.

Flashback-regular POV

It was coloring time for the kids of Sugar 'n Spice pre-school. A little blonde girl by the name of Lilly sat at a table using her old crayons. There were only 12 in her pack, but the little brunette boy, Oliver, who sat next to her, had a 64-pack of crayons. You know which one that is. Complete with all different versions of one color, and the set includes silver and gold. There's even a built-in crayon sharpener.

Lilly's red crayon, her favorite one, was down to a little stub. Sighing, she looked to her best friend Oliver. "Oliver, can I use your crayons."

"What's in it for me?" the little boy smirked.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"For you to hold my hand," Oliver smiled, proud of the deal he had just made. Lilly glared at him, but grabbed her best friend's hand anyway. They shared crayons from that day on.

End of Flashback

Before I knew it, the song was over. Lilly and I began walking back to the booth, but were pulled back by Jake and Miley.

"Dude!" Jake said in my face.

"What!"

"Stay here and dance with her!" Jake motioned over to Lilly, who looked to be arguing with Miley.

"But we just danced!"

"Yeah, to a slow song! You like her, right?"

What do I say? Do I tell him? He'd be bound to tell Miley. "What? Pssh! No!" Wow, great job lying Oliver.

Jake laughed. "That's a yes."

"Please don't tell anyone!" Ah crap, I can't even keep my own secrets.

"Oliver, chill, I won't tell. Plus, even if I did it's not like it'd be news."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Everyone already knows you like her."

"What? How!"

"Maybe because you're always staring at her?"

"Oh my gosh am I really?" I must do that without even realizing! She probably thinks I'm a freak now!

"Yeah, but she never notices, so don't worry. But still, you gotta keep dancing. She's never gonna like you unless you make some moves, man, now get out there!" he pushed me over to Miley and Lilly. Lilly had her arms crossed and Miley was giving her one of her famous looks.

"You are so stubborn!" Miley said.

"Miley, just stop, Ok?"

"No! Lilly, come on!"

"Mind your own business, Miley!"

Miley sighed. "Whatever, I'm only trying to help."

"Why don't you just go dance with Jake and-"

"Oh so that's why you're mad? You still like Jake?" Miley asked, but Jake was right there.

"No, I don't like Jake!" Lilly defended.

Then Jake cut in. "It's Ok if you like me, Lilly, really. I won't act all weird around you or anything-"

"I don't like you!" Lilly yelled, causing the whole place to turn and look at her.

"Then who do you like?" Miley asked, crossing her arms.

Lilly sighed, not wanting to blow up at Miley from all her anger. "You know what? This was a bad idea. Thanks for inviting me, but I'm going home." Lilly said, who turned and walked out of the club.

"I'm gonna head out too, I'll see you guys later." I told them. They waved goodbye and I left the club.

Lilly was already up the sidewalk, her shoes in her hand. I had to run to catch up with her.

"Hey Lil, wait up!" She didn't stop, but slowed down.

"Hey, Oliver." she greeted, still looking down. "Before you say anything, nothing's wrong. I just got frustrated and wanted to leave before I blew up at Miley and said things that would cause a fight."

"Good thinking." I said. "What were you and Miley arguing about in the first place?"

Lilly sighed. "It was nothing, really."

I nodded, understanding that she didn't want to tell me.

"I really don't like Jake, you know."

"I believe you."

"No you don't. But it's true. I honestly don't like him. I'm over him, especially after tonight."

"One-I do believe you, and I know you're telling the truth. Two-I'm happy for you."

Lilly sighed, rubbing her arms from the night's chill. "So why'd you leave?"

I shrugged. "Why would I stay if my date wasn't there? Plus, I wanted to see if you were Ok."

"Thanks." Lilly said, shivering.

"You want my jacket?" I offered.

"Only if you don't need it."

I took off my jacket and was about to hand it to her, when an idea popped into my head. "What's in it for me?" I smirked.

Lilly rolled her eyes and smiled. "What do you want?"

I laughed. "I'm just kidding. This time I won't force you to hold my hand." I said, putting my jacket on her.

She laughed too, but grabbed my hand anyway.


	7. Proof

**a/n-i loved writing this chapter, so i hope u guys love reading it! i love all ur reviews too, so thanks soo much!**

Chapter 7: Proof

My eyes lit up, but luckily in the darkness of the night she didn't notice.

"You know what I was thinking about when we were dancing?" Lilly asked.

"What?"

"Pre-school. Is that totally lame?"

I smiled. "Nah, Lil, I was thinking the same thing."

"Lilly! Oliver!" We heard a voice calling from behind us. We turned around to find Miley running in our direction. "Sweet niblets it's hard to run in heels!" Miley stopped when she caught up, breathing heavily.

"Miley, what are you doing here? Where's Jake?" Lilly asked.

"I just wanted to see if you were mad at me or not…Are you?"

Lilly sighed. "Miley, can we talk about this later?"

"Lilly please, we're talking about it now. Will you excuse us, Oliver?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll just be right over here." I said, sitting on the nearest bench. The girls walked a few feet away. I was out of ear shot, and wasn't the best at reading lips. But I know I saw Lilly say 'I don't like Jake'. It looked like Miley understood and she said something…wait a minute. Was that my name? I think she just said 'Oliver'. Why are they talking about me? I could tell Lilly was getting angry again, but she didn't say anything. Miley smiled now, but Lilly didn't look any happier. Then, I could hear this part, Miley squealed. Lilly shook her head, and then Miley looked confused. Lilly began talking and Miley had a 'yeah right' look on her face. I noticed Jake walking towards them. When he reached them, he put his arms around each of the girls. I decided their talk was over and I wanted to know what was going on, so I walked over too.

"Discussing me?" Jake asked, smiling cockily.

Lilly shrugged his arm off her shoulder and stepped away. "I don't like you, Ok? Now I understand why Miley didn't like you in the first place! You are self-centered and cocky, and not every girl likes you!" Lilly yelled.

"Lilly!" Miley hissed.

"Come on, Lilly, you know you like me!" Jake laughed, like she was just kidding.

"No, I don't!" Lilly crossed her arms.

"Prove it." Jake crossed his too.

Lilly glared at him with cold eyes. "I don't have to prove anything to you."

"Alright you guys, enough is enough." Miley said.

"Just admit you like me, Lilly!"

"Jake, stop!" Miley tried.

Lilly was about to slap him, I knew it, but I held her back. "Chill, Lil." I whispered in her ear as I held her arms so she wouldn't slap Jake.

"You want me to prove it?" Lilly asked, like she had a plan.

Jake nodded, and Miley seemed curious too. Before I knew what was going on, Lilly turned around, grabbed my collar, and pulled me in for a kiss. I was so shocked. When she pulled away, my eyes were huge, and both Miley and Jake's jaws had dropped.

"How's that for proof?" Lilly proudly smiled and walked away fast.

I started stuttering. "I-she-me" I pointed to myself and then to Lilly, who was already way up the street. "Me…she! I-she…what?" I was a babbling fool.

Jake and Miley still had there mouths hanging open. They kept looking from me to Lilly (who was now almost out of sight).

Finally, I snapped out of it. "Ok, someone tell me if what I think just happened actually just happened."

Miley's dropped draw slowly turned into a smile. "It did!" she squealed.

"What did I tell you, man? What did I tell you?" Jake grinned, proud of himself.

"Oliver, what are you waiting for? Go talk to her!" Miley urged. "We're gonna go back and dance, but you go get your girl!"

"Good luck, man." Jake said as he and Miley walked back to the club.

I smiled bright as I walked back to my neighborhood. It took me a while, and it was kind of cold out, but I didn't care. I just got kissed by the girl of my dreams! It was the best day of my life!

I walked up to the side of Lilly's house and looked up. There was a thing attached to the side of the house that looked like it would break if I climbed on it, but it led all the way to her window. Not caring about falling, I climbed up slowly so I could talk to Lilly. There was barely anything to stand on, but I did it. Struggling, I knocked lightly on the window.

The curtains opened and Lilly appeared. "Oliver!" she said, opening the window. She grabbed my hands and helped me in. "What are you doing? You could hurt yourself!"

Not answering her I sat on her bed. "So you want to explain to me what that was about?"

"Oh! You must think I'm nuts!" she laughed and sat down next to me. She was now in plaid pajama pants and a black tank top. "I'm _so_ sorry I kissed you, don't worry it didn't mean anything. I was just proving that I didn't like Jake."

I knew there was a catch. She really didn't like me. I pretended not to care. "Oh…yeah, I was wondering." I put on a fake smile.

"So we're cool, right?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah," I said, trying so hard not to sound disappointed. "We're cool." We hugged, and I turned to leave.

"Oh, you probably want your jacket back. Let me just find it." Lilly looked around her messy room.

"Nah, it's cool. Keep it." I told her, crawling back out of the window.

"You can use the front door, Oliver." Lilly smiled.

"It's fine," I replied, climbing out and down. I fell towards the end, but I didn't care. I stormed into my house and slammed the door behind me.

"How was-" my mom started but that's all I heard.

I ran up the stairs and slammed my door shut. I took out my walkie-talkie, and threw it into the closet, causing the batteries to fly out. I fell onto my bed and thought for a while. My window was open, and I swore I could hear faint sobs, but I dismissed the thought immediately.


	8. Ballroom Dancing: Take Two

**a/n-heyy everyone. so normally, in a real school they wouldn't have gym on friday and then again on monday, but for the sake of time, im making them have gym when i feel like making them have gym. lol ok, enough of that, here's the chapter. oh and by the way, is anyone else not getting alerts for anything anymore? whenever someone updates their story i never know, and i don't know when i get reviews either. i dont know whats going on, but i dont like it. ****haha ok, enough of my babbling. here u go. - 3-Erin**

Chapter 8: Ballroom Dancing: Take Two

That night I dreamt that Lilly and I were about to go out, but then she said she liked someone else. I woke up confused as ever. I really liked Lilly, and I thought that kiss might have meant something. But it turns out she was just proving a point. She didn't really have any interest in me. Should I move on? If I don't give her up, I'm basically torturing myself. But…I just can't. It's the one thing I want most.

I took a shower, ate breakfast, you know all that good stuff. It was 11:30 when I realized I missed a call from Miley, so I dialed her number.

"Oliver!" she yelled, picking up her phone on the first ring.

"What!"

"I talked to Lilly." she said, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, so did I."

"There's still hope, Oliver! Maybe she was lying when she said it meant nothing."

"Miley, it's Ok. It didn't mean anything to me either. It's not like I like her."

"Oliver, you're in denial."

"Anyway," I tried to change the subject. "What were you and Lilly fighting about?"

"Oh, well I told her how stubborn she was because she wouldn't admit to liking you. Now who does _that _remind you of, _Oliver_?"

"Very funny, Miley."

Miley laughed. "So she told me to mind my own business and I said I was just trying to help, and then she said she didn't like Jake, so I was all 'then who do you like' and that's when she walked out of the club. So then she was all 'I really don't like Jake' and I was all 'I know but I saw you and Oliver holding hands so do you like him?' And then she didn't say anything so I squealed, thinking that she liked you. But then she shook her head and I got all confused 'cause she acted like she liked you, but she just kept saying you guys were best friends so I was all 'yeah right', and _that_ is when Jake came up and you know the rest of the story." Miley explained without pausing.

"Damn you talk fast." I said.

"So anyway, I don't think Lilly was telling the complete truth. I think you should keep talking to her."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks but I gotta go do homework."

"See ya," Miley said and hung up.

I lounged around the house all day, occasionally waving to Lilly, who looked to be doing the same thing in her room. At around 5:00 I decided I needed some air, so I went for a walk.

Lilly was on her skateboard on the sidewalk. "Hey, Oliver," she greeted happily.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound cheerful. I planned on walking right past her, but I needed to ask her a question. "Hey, last night were you crying?" I asked, referring to the faint sobs I thought I heard.

"What? No. I don't cry, remember?" she answered, which was true.

"Oh, well I thought I heard someone crying."

"Wasn't me," Lilly crossed her arms, but I'm not sure if I believed her.

"If something was wrong you'd tell me, right?"

"Yeah, but nothing's wrong."

I sighed. "Alright, well I'm going to the beach. See ya later."

"Hey, wait." Lilly said and I turned back to her.

"Yeah?"

"Is there something wrong with you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

She nodded. "Me too. Bye."

"Later," I waved and went to the beach. I was there for a while, and Lilly called me on my way home. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, uh…you're not mad at me…are you?"

"No, never, why would I be mad?"

"I don't know…it just seems like you are."

"I'm not, really."

"Ok…"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked suddenly.

"No, not at all."

"Good."

"Good…So you promise you're not mad?" Lilly asked worriedly.

"Lil, honestly, I could never be mad at you. I have no reason to be."

"I know, but I feel like things are different now just because I kissed you. But I really don't want them to be different, I want things to be how they were when we were dancing, ya know?"

I was on our street at this point. "Yeah…" I agreed.

"So everything's still normal, right?"

"Of course, Lil."

"Ok, good." she said, right as I was in front of her house. She was still in the driveway, skateboarding away. I hung up the phone and started walking towards her, and she did the same.

I gave her a hug. "Thank-you!" she said.

"For what?"

"I really needed a hug. You're the best."

"Thanks," I replied, and walked next door.

The next day we had gym again, and we were still dancing. We all got with our partners and were ready to dance. But this time, we were going to be graded on our skills. So they made everyone dance closer and go up on our toes and everything. We had to look 'professional'.

"Start when the music starts, and just keep doing everything in the same order. You know, box step, hip turn, blah bla bla. Got it?" Miss Gold asked. We all nodded. I placed my hand on Lilly's waist and we held our hands near our shoulders. It was more a lot more awkward then I thought it'd be. To top it off, Mr. Armstrong pushed us closer together, because apparently you had to be touching each other.

I don't know about Lilly, but I was really uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved being in this position any other day, but today it was just awkward. I noticed Jake and Miley eyeing us from where they were dancing. I shrugged off the stares and made myself try to forget the awkwardness so I could get a good grade.

Lilly and I started doing the steps to the music, and we weren't half bad. We were actually pretty good. I memorized all the steps by now, so I didn't have to count or look down at my feet. Lilly didn't either, and we did the steps in sync. There's this one step where the guy steps to the side with his left foot, the girl with her right, and then you both turn your bodies inward so your hips touch, and then step with your other foot. Lilly loves that step because she says it makes her feel like she's doing the tango. She can never resist cracking up at it. Except this time. She didn't laugh at all.

"You didn't laugh." I pointed out.

She just shrugged. "It wasn't funny this time."

Finally the music stopped and we ended the step on just the right move. "Now that is what I'm talking about, people!" Miss Gold announced, and we all turned to her. "Oliver and Lilly, that was perfect! Would you mind doing it in front of the class?"

"Um, what?" I asked.

"Come on up you guys." Mr. Armstrong said. Neither me nor Lilly budged. So Miley pushed us to move forward.

Wow, how embarrassing does it get? Honestly. My face was beat red, and Lilly didn't like all the attention either. The music began and we did as we were told. Miss Gold didn't make us dance to the whole song; we only had to go through every step twice. But it still seemed like it lasted forever.

Everyone clapped, well mostly Miley, and we got to sit down. We both got A's for the unit, so I guess it made up for the embarrassment. But the awkwardness? Not so much.

"You guys really looked professional." Jake pointed out.

"Yeah, and you're the perfect couple too!" Miley just had to put in. As if it wasn't awkward enough.

Mr. Armstrong is a pretty cool teacher, and he's close with all his students. Everyone talks to him about anything they feel like, and he likes to be clued in on things. So of course, upon hearing Miley, he had to ask, "How long have you guys been together?"

Lilly and I both smacked our heads and said at the same time "we're not together."

"But they should be." Miley added.

"No we shouldn't." Lilly and I said together, both of us crossing our arms.

"Yeah you should." Jake laughed.

"No we shouldn't." we defended.

"Yes you should!" the whole class said at once.

"Shut-up!" we yelled, again in unison. "Stop saying what I'm saying! I'm not-you are!" we yelled at each other at the same time. Sighing, we both decided to just shut up.

"I see," Mr. Armstrong cleared his throat. "Sorry I asked."


	9. Gotta Go

**a/n-wow sry this took so long to get up. i had the most amazingggg night last night. ahh, dont u just love boys? i do. but anyway, so sorry this took a while, and i know its not that good, but i had writers block.**

Chapter 9: Gotta Go

"Well, this is awkward." I said after a minute of silence. The class laughed, making me feel a little bit better. I always like to get laughs, even if I don't mean to. But then again, who doesn't?

Finally, the bell rang and it was lunchtime. Lilly, Miley, and I began walking towards the cafeteria.

"Lilly, Jake said he has something important to ask me, and I think he might ask me out. And I will say no if you have any problem with him at all." Miley broke the silence.

"Miley, you know I'm fine with it. I don't like him, and I don't know why I ever did. So go for it, I'm really happy for you," Lilly said, and it sounded like she actually meant it. I hope she did.

Miley hugged Lilly so tight I thought she would break. "Lilly, you are the best friend a girl could ever have!"

Lilly laughed. "I've been told that!" I laughed at this because that was my line.

"So…" Miley started, and I knew that she was trying to get on the subject of Lilly and me.

So I cut in. "I'll go save us seats," I announced, walking one way.

"I gotta go buy lunch before the lines get too long." Lilly said, walking the other way, leaving Miley standing there confused and alone.

I sat at a table, waiting for Miley and Lilly, when Jake sat down across from me.

"Hey, man." Jake greeted, slamming his tray down on the table. "Cafeteria food sucks."

"That's why I bring my lunch." I laughed.

"So anyway," he started. _Oh, here we go. He's gonna ask about Lilly._ "How's Lilly?"

I shook my head. "Don't wanna talk about," I said, biting into my sandwich.

"Dude, what happened? I mean she kissed you, how come you're not going out?"

I chewed slowly before answering. "She was just proving a point, she doesn't like me."

"Well she sure acts like she does."

"Not really," I said.

"She flirts with you non-stop, dude!" Then he stood up dramatically. "How can you just let her play with your emotions!" he asked in the most dramatic voice I've ever heard. I gave him a strange look. Then he sat back down and began talking in a normal voice. "Episode 15: the hott blonde zombie kept sending this brunette zombie boy mixed signals, so I had to give him advice." He smiled cockily.

I just laughed and shook my head. At that moment the girls sat down. Miley sat next to Jake and Lilly's only choice was to sit next to me. "Hey boys," Miley greeted.

"Sup?" Jake asked.

"I _love_ when you say that!" Miley flirted, twirling her hair.

"Well, I _love_ saying it," Jake flirted right back.

"Anyway," Lilly started. "What grade did you guys get in gym?"

"She didn't tell us." Miley said, taking a sip of her drink. "But I think we were pretty good, weren't we Jake?"

"Yeah, we were great," he agreed. "Not as good as Lilly and Oliver though."

"Well I am a pretty beastly dancer," I said, trying to get over the awkwardness.

Lilly laughed. "You'd be nothing without me," she replied. Then she realized that sounded like we were 'together' so she added, "A-as your partner…y-you know for dancing."

"Right," I nodded. "Of course."

"Yeah," she nodded also.

"Alright, I have to say something." Jake stood up.

"Oh great, not another dramatic scene from 'Zombie High'." I laughed.

"No, this is serious," he said and we all listened.

"First of all, Miley, will you go out with me?"

"AHHHH!" Miley screamed. "YES! I don't even care if I sound desperate right now, this is great!" She jumped out of her seat and pulled Jake in for a kiss.

"Wow," Jake smirked once Miley pulled away and sat back down. "Now that that's taken care of, time for the second order of business."

We all looked up at him curiously. "What is it, babe?" Miley asked.

"Ooh!" Jake said. "I just got chills when you said that!"

"Will you get on with it?" Lilly asked. She was a very impatient person.

"Right, sorry. Oliver, what did I just do?"

I was confused. "You…asked Miley out?"

"Right," he nodded. "So what are you gonna do now?"

Uh-oh. He wouldn't say anything. He said he wouldn't. "Um…go get a soda?"

"Wrong. You're gonna ask Lilly to go-"

"Get me a spoon? Sure, Lil, can you get me a spoon?"

"Oliver you're done with your lunch." Miley said and I glared at her.

"What is going on?" Lilly asked, oblivious.

"Nothing!" I tried to signal Jake not to say anything.

"Lilly! Open your eyes!" Jake yelled.

"To what!" she asked, still confused as ever.

"HE LIKES YOU!" the whole cafeteria shouted.

My mouth dropped open, and Lilly looked confused. I can't believe they would all just say that! "I gotta go." I announced and ran out of the cafeteria.


	10. Chad

**a/n-hey guys. i knwo this took a while to get up and i kno its not good, but school just sucks. i hate it. sighh. well heres the next chapter. enjoy**

Chapter 10: Chad

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! First of all, how could I be that obvious? The entire grade knew! What have I ever done to make everyone think that I like Lilly? Ok…so maybe I've done a couple things, but not _really_. Right? Right. So now I had to find somewhere to go, since I couldn't face Lilly, not now. I walked into the boys' bathroom, knowing that she wouldn't go in there.

Maybe there's a chance she doesn't believe everyone. I mean, _I_ never actually told her I liked her. So there's no proof, right? Right. I was washing my hands and thinking when the door to the bathroom opened.

"Hello, Oliver," said Chad the Chomper, my enemy.

"Hi, Chad."

"So, word on the street is you like Lilly?"

"Like you didn't know." I said sarcastically.

"Whoa, whoa, no need for the sarcasm. I'm just here to tell you that you better watch your woman, 'cause now that she knows you like her, I'm gonna tell her I like her. Which means she'll forget about you and come to a real man, like me." Chad began daydreaming.

"In your dreams, buddy." I said, pushing past him and out the door. I didn't expect him to follow, but he did.

"In your nightmare, pal." he replied and shoved me. I almost pushed him back, but decided to be the bigger man and walk away. "Exactly." Chad said. "You don't even have the guts to fight me, Oken. You're a wimp." Chad said, trying to spit his gum on me but he missed.

I stopped in my tracks and walked back up to him. "You're right, Chad. Everything you've ever said about me is true. I'm a wimp, I'm stupid, I'm a loser. You name it, that's what I am. But there's one thing I am better at than you."

"What's that? Sucking up?"

"Nope," I smiled. "Giving you a bloody nose," and with that I punched him hard in the nose, making him stagger backwards.

"You're dead, Oken!" Chad yelled, coming at me. I ducked and punched him in the jaw when he wasn't expecting it.

"Actually, I'm alive and healthy, thank-you very much." I smiled proudly as I watched him lay defenselessly on the floor, and his nose was in fact bleeding.

"Mr. Oken!" the principal called out from down the hall. "My office, now! Chad, go see the nurse."

I shrugged, knowing that I was caught red-handed, and went to Mr. Smith's office. At least being there would keep me from my last two classes, which were with Lilly.

"First of all, you're suspended tomorrow and you have detention everyday this week. Second, why did you feel the need to punch Chad?"

I shrugged. "I've always felt the need to punch him. This time he just provoked me at the wrong time, so I did it. Plus, he basically told me to punch him."

"Did he hit you at all?"

"Nah," I told him honestly. "He shoved me, but that's it."

"Well thank-you for being honest, but you did hit him. I'll give him one day of detention this week, is that fair for you?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Good, so I'll just call your parents to come pick you up, and I'll see you Wednesday."

"Ok, but my parents are at work."

Mr. Smith sighed. "Alright, you can finish off today, serve a detention this afternoon, and go home on the late bus. I expect you to reflect on your day off tomorrow on what you did to Chad, even if he did deserve it, Ok?"

"Yup," I said, getting up to leave.

"Good-bye, Mr. Oken."

"Later." I replied without any enthusiasm. I decided to skip the remaining of 5th period and 6th period, because awkwardness would only await me.

Just my luck, Miley decided to get a drink just as I was finished getting one. "Oliver, where have you been?"

"I just beat up Chad, got suspended and detention, and now I'm skipping class. What have you been up to?"

"No seriously, Oliver, what were you doing?"

"I'm being serious, Miley. Chad's in the nurse's office right now and I won't be in school tomorrow. I also have detention today and for the rest of the week except tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Well what made you finally hit Chad?"

I shrugged. "He got more annoying than usual."

"Well anyway, are you coming to class or not?"

"Hmm, let me think…Not." I started walking away.

"Oliver, you're gonna have to face her some time."

"What'd she say when I left?"

"She just went back to eating. Oh by the way, she just got detention for not turning in her homework, so I guess you'll see her there, bye!" Miley skipped back to her class.

Oh joy. Detention with the girl I've liked forever, and now she knows. This should be interesting.


	11. Detention

**a/n-hey guys. sry again that this took a while. school sucks and hw takes up all my time, and then on friday night i went over my friends to have a degrassi party 4 the new season permiere (which was amazing by the way). so here's a chapter, and yes, i stole the teacher's name from Boy Meets World, just because i love that show. i love all ur reviews, thank u!**

Chapter 11: Detention

I walked in late to detention, dreading sitting in silence with Lilly for 45 minutes. Lilly was already sitting at a desk on one side of the room, and Chad was in the way back of the room. Perfect.

"You're late, Mr. Oken. That'll be five extra minutes with me." said Mr. Feeney.

I shrugged and sat down near the window, which was as far away from Lilly as possible. I tried not to make eye contact with her as I entered the room and began walking past her, but I had to look. I couldn't help it. She was staring right back at me, but immediately looked down when I caught her glance.

I looked at Chad glaring at me from the back of the room. For once, there was no gum in his mouth. Probably because I punched him in the jaw so it was hard for him to chew. I ignored him and went to my window seat to doodle.

Only five minutes went by when Mr. Feeney's cell phone rang, and then he stood up to say something. "I trust you all will be fine here alone. I need to go take care of a few things. No talking, no getting up, and…that's it. I'll be back in a little bit."

As soon as he left, Chad stood up and sat next to Lilly. "Hey, Lilly," he winked.

She eyed him curiously. "Uh…hi, Chad."

"What do you say we do something after we're out of here?"

"…Like what?"

"How bout you come over my house?"

Lilly looked terrified. "Uh…actually I have a lot of homework, and my mom doesn't let me do anything on school nights anyway. Sorry."

Chad looked disappointed. "Please, Lilly?" He leaned closer to her, making me lean back so I could see her facial expression.

"Sorry, I can't." Lilly backed away. Chad then placed his hand on hers and she immediately jumped out of her chair.

"Chad, what are you doing!"

"I like you, Lilly. So let's give it a try." Chad followed Lilly around the room.

"Leave her alone, Chad!" I yelled out of instinct, instantly regretting that choice.

"Oken, I've had just about enough of you." Chad made his way over to me.

"I'm not too fond of you either, Chad." I said in a mono-tone voice.

"Then let's settle our differences right here. Winner takes the girl." He said, sounding pleased with himself.

I gave him an 'are you kidding look me?' look, and Lilly crossed her arms, disgusted. I stood up. "First of all, I already kicked your ass; don't make me do it again. Second, you can't just 'take the girl', who has a name, by the way. And she decides who she wants, not the 'winner'. Got it?" I said, and sat back down.

"But…I want her." Chad stated.

I rolled my eyes. "Too bad. Just sit down and shut-up."

"Don't tell me to shut-up, Oken!" Chad's raised his voice.

Then Lilly, who I forgot was still in the room, spoke up. "Stop fighting, Ok?"

"Ok," Chad shrugged, walking back to his seat.

I looked at the confused Lilly and smirked, making her do the same. But then I realized that she still thought I liked her, so I quickly turned away.

"Hey, Oliver?" she asked, coming over to me. Oh great, here we go again.

"Yeah?"

"Um…" she started.

"Alright, listen." I stood up. "I don't like you like everyone thinks I like you. You're just my best friend, and I don't know why everyone thinks I like you. But I don't, Ok?" I told the biggest lie I'd ever tell in my life.

She studied me for a moment and then nodded. "Right, yeah…that's what I thought." she spoke softly.

"Yeah…so…yeah."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm gonna go sit back down now."

"Me too." I said. "So…bye."

She waved half-heartedly and sat back down. We didn't talk for the rest of detention.


	12. Liar

**a/n-short chapter, but i kinda like it. hope u guys do too. and thanks 4 all the reviews!**

Chapter 12: Liar

"Oken, you're a dirty liar." Chad stated, approaching me as I went to my locker. I ignored him and looked at Lilly a little ways down the hall at her locker. "Oken!" he yelled again.

"What?"

"Alright, I hate you, let me just put that out there. And I'm all for making your life a living hell, but I gotta know; why'd you tell Lilly you didn't like her?"

"Because I don't." I said simply.

"That's a lie. And I'm gonna tell Lilly that you're lying."

"She won't believe you if she doesn't believe anyone else." I replied, still not looking at him.

"So if I told her, that wouldn't make you mad?"

"Nope."

"Damn." Chad walked away to his locker.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my backpack. There was no late bus today, and my parents were still at work, so I had to walk home. What a great day it was.

"Hey, Oliver, wait up." Lilly said, struggling with her heavy backpack. "You walking home?"

"Yup, you?"

"Yeah, mind if I walk with you?"

"No, not at all," I said, and we started on our way home in silence.

I didn't know what to say. Everything had changed ever since that kiss, and I didn't want it to. But we both knew things between us were different. While I was in the middle of daydreaming, Lilly dropped her backpack accidentally.

"Crap," she said, reaching down to pick it up.

"I got it," I offered, picking up the heavy pack.

"Oh it's Ok, Oliver, I can handle it."

"No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I assured her, holding her backpack with ease.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"My pleasure," I smiled back brightly, but quickly stopped and stared straight ahead when I realized what I was doing.

"So why were you in detention?"

I laughed. "I got into a fight with Chad, and I'm suspended tomorrow for it."

"Wow, what were you guys fighting about?"

I sighed. "He was just being a jackass. You know how he is."

She nodded. "He was being creepy in detention."

"Yeah, about that…he likes you."

She stopped in her tracks. "_What_?"

I shrugged. "He told me he likes you."

"Well that's a first." she said and started walking again.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean it's just the first time that a guy has liked me…" she said.

_Hah! Good one._ "Lil…" I started. "Shut-up." I laughed.

She giggled. "I'm serious!"

"You know that all the guys want you." I laughed. She mumbled something under her breath that sounded something like 'not the right one'. "What was that?"

"I said that's a good one." she smiled. "Oh, by the way, thanks for sticking up for me when Chad wanted to 'claim' me. I really appreciate it."

I shrugged. "It was nothing."

"Well, it really meant a lot to me. So thanks."

"Anything for you, Lil." She smiled at this, which of course made me smile too. I walked her to her doorstep and handed her her backpack.

"Thanks," she said, taking it back. "Well, see ya."

"Bye," I turned and started walking.

"Wait, Oliver…I have to tell you something." Lilly said. Uh-oh. Is that bad? Maybe it's a good thing.

"What is it?" I walked back towards her.

"Uh…well…never mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." she said.

"Ok, well…feel free to call me tomorrow. I'll be bored all day."

"I definitely will. See ya."

"Later."


	13. Say It

**a/n-annnd here is the long awaited chapter 13. and its a little longer then most of the chapters i put up, so i hope u guys dont mind. hehe enjoyy**

Chapter 13: Say It

"How can you be suspended?" my mom yelled.

"I'm sorry! I had to punch the kid! He literally was asking for it!"

"That's no excuse. Now I know sitting home all day is boring, and plus you have detentions all week so I won't punish you. But no more fights, Ok?"

I nodded. "Ok."

The next day went by so extremely slow. My parents were off at work, my friends at school, and there was nothing on TV. I tried to fall asleep, but I just wasn't very tired. Fortunately, at exactly12:34, my cell phone rang. I smiled at the name on my called ID. It read 'Lil'.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Oliver," she answered, using her cell phone in the bathroom during lunch period. "How are you?"

"Extremely bored, how 'bout you?"

"I'm alright. It's boring without you here, though."

I smiled at this. "Anything dramatic or fun that I missed today?"

"Not really. Oh wait! Miley told off Amber and Ashley, and Jake backed her up! It was amazing to watch them get shut down. And also, Chad came to school with a bandage on his nose!"

I laughed. "I guess I hit him pretty good, huh?"

She giggled. "Yeah you did. But anyway I gotta go finish my lunch. You want me to stop by after school and bring you the all the work we did and the homework we have?"

"Yeah, thanks, that'd be great."

"K, I'll see you later."

"Oh, wait. Remember when you said you had to tell me something?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, is it something bad? 'Cause if you're in trouble or something I wanna know."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that, but thanks for caring."

"K, just checking. See you later."

"Bye," she said and hung up.

I don't know what time it was, but soon I fell asleep. I woke up to the doorbell ringing. I drowsily walked over to the door, stumbling over my feet. Before opening the door, I looked in the mirror right beside it and fixed my hair, knowing that Lilly was on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Lil," I greeted, opening it. "Come on in."

"Hey," she said. She plopped down on the couch right next to me and sighed. "What a long day!"

"Tell me about it." I replied, leaning back on the couch.

"But, we didn't get a lot of homework. Here ya go." she took my work out of her backpack and gave it to me.

"Thanks," I said, setting the work on the coffee table.

Lilly sighed. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Well, you know…you could stay…I mean if you want." I offered.

"Ok, thanks." she nodded and remained seated. Just then her cell phone rang.

"Ugh!" she groaned.

"What?"

"It's Chad! He asked me to be his girlfriend today! He's creeping me out, and I don't want him calling me!" she explained and ignored the call. I cringed at the thought of him liking her. In a minute, he called again.

"Here, I'll talk to him." I offered, taking the phone from her. "Hello?"

"Who's this?" Chad asked, confused.

"The guy who beat you up." I smiled.

"Oken!" he yelled into the phone. "What are you doing with Lilly's phone?"

"You're creeping her out! Why don't you just stay away from her?" I ignored his question.

"You don't own her; I can call her whenever I want."

"Yeah well she doesn't like you!" I told him.

"Oh and you think she likes you?"

"More than she likes you at least!"

"Shut-up and give the phone to Lilly."

"No, I don't want you talking to her." I ended it and hung up.

"Thank-you so much, Oliver. You're a life-saver.

"If he ever bothers you again, let me know, Ok?" Lilly looked down, like she was hiding something. "Lil? What is it?"

"It's nothing…today he just did something that I didn't like."

"Besides asking you out?" I asked. She nodded. "So what was it?"

"He…he grabbed my butt and tried to kiss me. And he won't stop following me around!"

"He _what_?" I asked, getting protective again.

"It's nothing, Oliver."

I stood up, on a mission, and walked out the door.

"Oliver! Oliver, stop!" Lilly ordered, following me. But I didn't stop. "Oliver, what are you gonna do?"

I walked to Chad's house, which wasn't that far away, and knocked hard on the door.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Lilly asked, now standing next to me. "Please don't do anything you're gonna get in trouble for."

Chad came out a few seconds later, and immediately I punched him in the eye. "Oliver!" Lilly yelled, trying to hold me back.

I pinned Chad up against the brick wall of the house. "Listen, creep. Don't you ever touch Lilly _ever_ again. Don't go near her, don't look at her, and don't even think about her, got it?" Chad shot death glares at me, but didn't answer. So I pushed him up harder against the wall, making him wince in pain. "I said, got it?"

"Yes," Chad got out and I let him go.

"Good. Now apologize."

"Whoa, Chad never apologizes." he said cockily.

"Now!" I pushed him.

"Sorry." he said flatly. I was about to leave when Chad gave a good punch to my own eye.

I swung my arm back to hit him back, but Lilly grabbed it. "Just walk away!" she hissed.

I wanted so badly to hit him just once more, but Lilly held my shoulders and turned me around. "You do it again and you're dead!" I yelled over my shoulder as I was walking away.

Chad just glared back at me. I really hated that kid.

"Oliver, I _so_ appreciate what you did for me. It's probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. So thanks. But you honestly didn't have to hit him."

"Yeah I did, Lil." I said simply. For some reason, she smiled at this. "What?"

"You're amazing, Oliver."

_Whoa, where did that come from?_ "Really?" I smiled. "Cool. Thanks."

"I don't know what I'd do without you."

I shrugged. "I had to do it."

"Why? Any other guy would have just yelled at him."

I shrugged once more. "That wouldn't be enough. Plus, well…"

"Well what?" she seemed eager.

"Well…you're my best friend. I needed to."

"Yeah…well thanks. You're a great friend."

_Too bad that's all I'll ever be._ "Well you know, I do what I can." I smiled, and so did she.

"Oliver…" she started to say, her smiling fading a little.

"Yeah?" I asked curiously.

"I…I have to tell you something."

"You can tell me anything, Lil."

She sighed. "Then I'm just gonna come right out and say it. I…"


	14. Good Times

**a/n-soo this chapters a little shorter, but theres a special guest appearance :-) thanks again 4 reviewing, i love u guys**

Chapter 14: Good Times

"I…" We stopped walking and she looked directly into my eyes. "I think you have a black eye!"

"Are you serious? Now my mom's gonna know I got into another fight!" I said and we began walking again.

"I'm sorry, just tell her it's my fault."

"No, you didn't do anything. I'll just tell her that Chad was being mean to you so I punched him."

"But she said no more fights. I don't want you to get in trouble."

I shrugged. "Don't worry about it. She'll probably think it's sweet that I'm protecting the girl I've l-" I stopped myself before I spilled out 'liked forever'. "Been best friends with forever." I finished.

"Well, it was a very sweet thing to do."

I grinned, proud of myself. "So is that all you wanted to tell me; that I have a black eye?"

"Uh…no…but I forgot what it was." she replied.

"Oh, Ok. Well when it comes back to you, I'll be waiting."

Lilly just nodded. "Hey, who are they?" she asked, nodding her head over to two twin boys fighting at a corner. They were blonde, and held skateboards in their hands. They looked to be about our age.

"I don't know. I've never seen them before."

"Let's go introduce ourselves," she suggested, grabbing my arm and bringing my towards them. "Hey," Lilly greeted, smiling flirtatiously.

"Hey," one of them said happily, stopping the argument with his twin.

"Are you guys new here?" Lilly asked. I was already jealous.

"Yeah, we're only in town for a week. Our mom just had to do a small concert here. I'm Zack, and this is Cody."

"I'm Lilly," she shook Zack's hand. I didn't say anything, just glared. Lilly jabbed her elbow into me, wanting me to introduce myself but I didn't. So she jabbed me harder.

"I'm Oliver." I said through gritted teeth.

"So you guys skate?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah," they said at the same time, which made Lilly giggle.

"I skate too." she bragged and twirled her hair.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but we should really get going." I lied and grabbed Lilly's arm to try to get her to come with me.

"No we don't, Oliver," she argued.

"Yeah, Lil, we do."

"Oh, are you guys together?" Zack asked, sounding disappointed.

"No, no, no," Lilly said instantly. Ouch. "But apparently, we have to go."

"Alright, well, can we have your number?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, maybe we can hang out sometime." Zack agreed, and I happily gave them my cell phone number.

"Where are you staying?" I asked, as Oliver began to pull me away.

"The Best Western hotel." they answered in unison once again.

"Call me!" I called out.

"What the hell was that!" I asked once we were on our block.

"What do you mean?" Lilly played dumb.

"You were just! I thought maybe! But we!" I kept starting different sentences, but never finished them.

"Spit it out, Oliver!"

I took a deep breath. "Never mind," I said flatly.

"Fine," she said.

"Fine," I replied.

"Are…are you mad at me?" she asked once we were both at our own doorsteps. I gave her a look that said 'ya think?' "Well…what did I do?"

"Nothing, I just thought that we could…"

"That we could what?"

"Nothing, never mind, good-bye." I said and shut the door. Then I noticed her backpack was still here, so I picked it up and opened the door. Lilly was there, with her hand in a knocking position.

"I forgot my backpack." she said quietly.

I handed it to her and she left. Perfect. I had a black eye, got mad at Lilly, wanted to kill Zack, had homework and class work still left to do, and detentions the rest of the week. Good times.


	15. 4 Hours, 23 Minutes, and 7 Seconds

**a/n-sry this one took so long. maaaddd amounts of hw. tgif tho! wow, whata long week. lol sry i just hate school. but here ya go - 3- Erin**

Chapter 15: 4 Hours, 23 Minutes, and 7 Seconds

So I got grounded for getting into another fight. But since I was helping Lilly, it was only for two days. The next morning, I woke up and walked outside, only to find Lilly walking out at the exact same time.

"Hey," she greeted without enthusiasm, as we started our walk to school.

"Hey," I said back.

"So…are you in trouble?"

"Grounded for two days." I stated.

"Sorry," she said.

I shrugged. "It's fine."

"But, I'm also sorry about yesterday. I was a jerk to you, so I'm sorry."

I shrugged once more. "I'm sorry too. I wasn't jealous or anything," I started, which was a complete lie. "I just didn't want you to get hurt…'cause I know guys are jerks and will say anything you want to hear to make you like them."

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem."

"So did you finish your work?"

"I finished what we did in class, but not the homework we got. They'll let me have an extra day though."

"Yeah," Lilly agreed, when her cell phone rang. "Hello?" I couldn't hear what the other line was saying, but it was the voice of a familiar guy. "Oh, hey Zack!" Lilly smiled.

Zack! Zack! He only met her yesterday and he was already calling her? I really didn't like that kid! I mean, I'm sure I'd like him if Lilly didn't like him, but I can tell she's interested in him. Therefore, he's on my list of guys to hate.

"Sure, that'd be great." Lilly grinned wider at whatever he just said. I just rolled my eyes. "I do, but she's taken. But I'll bring her anyway 'cause I want her to meet you two."

I bet he asked her to bring another girl. What a player.

"Ok, see ya then!" Lilly said and hung up.

"Who was that?" I asked like I didn't already know.

"Zack," she sighed dreamily. "He's so awesome."

"Oh really? What did he want?"

"He wants to meet me at the beach this afternoon. He told me to bring a friend for Cody to meet, so I'll ask Miley if she wants to come."

"Oh…well…why is Zack so 'awesome'?"

"Because we're so much alike! I mean, we both skateboard, we're not too great in school, we both love to have fun."

"Everyone likes to have fun, Lil. I mean have you ever met someone that says 'I love to be boring'? No."

"Plus," she added, ignoring my comment. "He's funny and tells great jokes, he hates to read, his favorite color's red, and he loves Hannah Montana!"

"Go figure. How do you know so much about him anyway? You only talked to him for like five minutes."

"Oh, well last night he called me and we talked for…a while."

"How long's a while?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know, Oliver." Lilly said, and I knew she was lying. I grabbed the phone from her hoodie pocket and looked at the call timers. "Give me back my phone, Oliver."

"4 hours, 23 minutes, and 7 seconds?!" I asked, astonished. "Call began at 9:31 p.m. and ended at 1:54 a.m.?!"

"So, that doesn't mean anything!"

"You guys really do like each other." I said softly, closing the phone and handing it to her.

"Oliver, come on. I just met him." she replied softly.

"Yeah, but I can tell you like him. And it's obvious he likes you, too."

"How do you know?"

I shrugged, defenseless. "If you guys can talk for that long, there's something there." _And I shouldn't stand in the way._

She looked down, knowing I was right. I don't know why she was trying to deny it in the first place. She should be happy that he likes her.

"So…you don't mind at all if I go to the beach with him?" she asked. How did she know? She couldn't know, she was just curious.

"Pssh, no! Not at all, why would I care if you go out with some loser?" Ok, so maybe that wasn't the best choice of words.

"He is not a loser, Oliver! He's a really nice guy and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't judge him before even hanging out with him!" Lilly defended Zack. I'm glad she's taking his side over her best friend's. That was sarcasm if you didn't catch it.

"Hey, who's judging?"

"You! Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"I am happy! I'm ecstatic! Peachy even!" I yelled as we approached the school.

"Oliver, what is wrong with you?"

"I could ask you the same question, Lilly."

"I-" she was about to yell something but then stopped. "Wait, did you just call me Lilly?"

"Yeah…that's your name isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but…usually you call me Lil. I don't think you've ever called me Lilly."

"Ever?" I asked, not believing her.

"Maybe like once. It sounds really weird."

"What about when we were five and we were catching lightening bugs. I could have sworn I called you Silly Lilly."

"Nah, that was my mom. You called me Lightening Lil because I caught all those lightening bugs, and you only had two."

"Oh yeah," I laughed, remembering that night. "One of them was dead, and the other wouldn't even light up."

"Yeah, and you cried because I caught more." she laughed.

"I did not cry!" I defending, smiling now. "And even if I did, it was a sad time."

"I'll never forget what your mom said either."

"Haha, how could anyone forget? She shouted it to the whole neighborhood."

"Oliver, quit crying and try to be more like Lilly." we said together, mimicking my mom's voice. Then we laughed and walked to her locker.

"Maybe I should tell Zack I can't hang out today…" she drifted off.

I sighed. I knew she liked him a lot, and obviously he felt the same. I couldn't stop her from being happy, no matter how much I hated Zack. "No, Lil. Go."

"I thought you didn't want me to go?"

"Well…I don't. But you should. I'm grounded anyway, so it's not like we could hang out. Have a good time, and then you can tell me all about it when you get back. Ok?" Man, I am a _really_ good friend, not to be cocky or anything.

"Are you sure?" Lilly asked, closing her locker.

"Yeah," I assured her, now walking to my own locker.

"Ok…thanks."

"Yeah," I said, grabbing my books. "Anytime."


	16. Phase 1

**a/n-everyone--i am sooo sorry about not updating sooner. i hate when ppl dont update, and i def. kno what its like to be kept waiting. so i kno, im a bitch, i shud have had this up earlier. im sorry. most of the week i had too much hw to write it, and then when i finally wrote it and wanted to post it, my internet was out. and then today after school the power was out cuz it snowed and someone got into an accident or something. i kno u prolly hate these excuses, and i kno it doesnt help at all, but here u go. and again im soo sorry, dont hate me too much.**

Chapter 16: Phase 1

So there I was again. Back in detention, alone for 45 minutes. The teacher was gone, no one else had detention, and I was left to an annoyingly silent room with all my homework done already. I tapped on the desk anxiously waiting for 3:00 to come around. Lilly was going out with Zack that afternoon. What did she see in Zack anyway? What did she say about him? I tried to think of what she had told me that morning on why he was so awesome.

_"We're not that great in school."_ Hey, neither am I, so we have that in common. What else did she say? I thought hard. _"We both love to have fun"_ Obviously I loved to have fun too. The last things she said were _"He's funny and tells great jokes, he hates to read, his favorite color's red, and he loves Hannah Montana." _She might as well just go out with me! What does Zack have that I don't? I'm everything he is, right?

Wrong. She said he skateboards. Lilly tried to teach me how to skateboard once in elementary school, and I failed miserably. I thought for a moment. "I can teach myself to skateboard!" I said aloud. Then I looked around, embarrassed, to see if anyone was around to hear me. Good thing there wasn't. In the time that passed, I came up with a plan.

I would go home, teach myself to skateboard, and then I would get my dad to let me off the hook (he is pretty lenient like that). Then I would find Lilly and impress her with my amazing skateboarding skills. That's the only thing Zack can do that I can't. She'll drop Zack and come to me. Sounds like a plan to me. Yeah, in my dreams. But, it's worth a shot.

I took out my cell phone and dialed Miley's number. "Miles!" I yelled immediately. "Are you with Lilly?"

"Yeah you want-"

"No, don't tell her I'm on the phone with you. Tell her it's your dad or something. Listen I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"You guys are on your way to meet Zack and Cody right?"

"Yeah…"

"How long will you guys be there for?"

"I don't know. I won't be there for long because Jake wants me to have dinner at his house, so he's picking me up at the beach."

"Oh, well is Cody gonna be there?"

"Well, I would think he'd go home a little earlier than Zack so he wouldn't be the third wheel, ya know?"

"So…you're just leaving Lil alone with…_Zack_?" I asked, saying his name like it was a curse.

"Whoa, calm down Ol-I mean Dad. Why do you care so much anyway?" she asked, and by this time I knew she was smiling.

"Shut-up. Call me when you leave." I ordered.

She laughed. "Fine, bye Daddy!" she said and hung up.

Ok, the plan was being put in to action. Once Miley called, that would mean she had left, which would mean Cody would be leaving soon. So by the time I get to the beach, it will just be Zack and Lilly. I can call over Lilly-no! Better yet, I can skateboard over to her. Wait, I can't skateboard on the sand. You know what, I'll just improvise once I get there.

Finally the 3:00 bell rang and I sprinted out of the school and onto the late bus. It stopped at my house and I ran off, throwing my backpack in the house and darting into the garage to get my skateboard. Actually, it was one of Lilly's old skateboards, but she gave it to me incase I ever wanted to learn.

I went in the driveway and put on my helmet, but didn't bother with elbow pads or knee pads. But once I got on, I could barely stand on the skateboard without losing my balance. How the hell did Lilly do this?

"Oliver?" my dad called from inside the garage. "What are you doing?"

"Skateboarding," I said matter-of-factly.

"Well…since when do you skateboard?"

"Dad, do I have to be grounded?" I asked, ignoring his question. "I mean, I have detention all this week. And that's worse than being grounded, 'cause I can't talk at all and I'm sitting alone in silence for 45 minutes. You know?"

"I see…Well…what do you need to do instead of being grounded?"

"Dad, just please. Tonight I can't be grounded."

"You'll only be ungrounded if you tell me what's so important to do tonight."

"I have to go to the beach!" I snapped, frustrated at my failed attempts to skateboard.

"I see…so why skateboarding?"

"Maybe I just wanna learn to skateboard. Something wrong with that?"

"You know, I saw Miley and Lilly walking towards the beach on my way home from work. What's going on down there?"

"Nothing, Dad. So am I ungrounded?"

"Are you trying to impress Lilly by skateboarding?"

"What!" I yelled, falling off the skateboard and landing on my elbows.

"I'll take that as a yes." My dad laughed. "You're ungrounded…for now."

"Thank-you!" I said, getting back on the board. Phase 1: Complete.


	17. WaitWhat!

**a/n-so ive decided that im a horrible person with my lack of updating. i used to be so good at it. im really sorry. and sadly, this story is coming to an end. the chapter after this will be the last one. sooo i hope u like this one, its longer than a lot of my chapters. thanks 4 all ur reviews! (and btw, im not getting the alerts again. but oh well!) enjoy!**

Chapter 17: Wait...What?

Now for phase 2; skateboarding. I admit it, I'm a failure. But eventually I learned to go down the driveway without falling. That is, after I had fallen so many times that my knees bled and I wore holes in my jeans where my knees are. My elbows were scraped, and when I fell a rock jumped up and hit me under the eye, making a small scrape there. Plus, I still had a black eye. I was looking good.

A little bit after I perfected my driveway skills, Miley called. "Hey, did you leave?"

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Jake's limo to come pick me up." she explained.

"And Cody's gone too?"

"Yeah, he left right after me. But Oliver, I just want you to know that Zack's really not as bad as you think. He's a really cool person and I think that if you gave him a chance you'd get along."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Oliver, what are you planning to do? Go up to their date and just go 'Lilly, I love you'?"

"One-I don't love Lilly. Two-Are they honestly considering that a date?! Three-I was actually just gonna wing it."

"You're so stubborn!"

"Am not!" I defended.

"Whatever, Oliver. But just one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I'm really sorry but I think they really like each other."

"Why are you sorry? It's not like I'm jealous or anything."

"Then why do you hate him so much?"

"Hate is such a strong word. I prefer to use 'very much dislike'."

"Ok, fine! Why do you 'very much dislike' him?"

I shrugged, then realized that she couldn't see me. "Miley, I'm trying to practice. I'll talk to you later."

"What are you practicing?"

"Skateboarding," I said simply and hung up to avoid further questions. I stomped the end of the skateboard with my foot, expecting it to come right up off the ground so I could catch it. What actually happened was that it came up and hit me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

"Nice skateboard," I said to it, picking it up and carrying it under my arm. I unbuckled my uncomfortable helmet, but left it on my head, and started off towards the beach.

I heard Lilly's giggle when I neared the beach. She must be leaving…with Zack. I got on my skateboard and pushed off the concrete slowly. As I got closer to the beach, I heard Zack's voice too. I saw them come close to the beach entrance, and they were…_holding hands_. Perfect. Maybe I shouldn't interfere. I really want Lilly to be happy. But I still really like her!

"I gotta go." I heard Zack say, stopping at the entrance.

"I had a really great time." Lilly said back. "And I'm really sorry." Sorry? Why would she be sorry? Oh, she's Lilly; she probably spilled something on him.

"Don't worry about it." Zack assured her, and leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek! That made me want to kill him!

"See ya," Lilly smiled, waving to him as he walked down the road.

"I'll call you," he said, and gave another wave.

Of course, without realizing because I was too into their conversation, I was still rolling. I skated right into a mailbox, causing Lilly to turn to look at me, and I rolled into a bunch of bushes.

"Oliver!" she yelled, running towards me. I spit out some dirt and tried to pull a twig out of my hair. My helmet was crooked, and I'm sure my face was more scratched than before. "Oliver, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly.

"Just…chillin' in the bushes." I told her like it was an ordinary thing, and brushed myself off.

"Why?" she asked, standing over me.

"Oh, you know." I nervously laughed.

"Call me blonde but, I have no clue why you'd be 'just chillin' in the bushes.'"

"How's Zack?" I asked bitterly, ignoring her statement.

"Oh, were you spying or something?"

"Why do you even care about what I'm doing?" I snapped, knowing that I shouldn't.

"What?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Why don't you just go suck face with _Zack_?" I said Zack very mockingly.

She looked offended, hurt, and mad at the same time. "Oliver, first of all you don't know what you're talking about. Second, you have absolutely no right to spy on me!"

"Perfect, even when I end up in the bushes you'd still take Zack's side!"

"His side on what, Oliver? What are you talking about?"

"I can skateboard too, Lil! Or at least I can try. But I'm funny, right? I think I tell some good jokes. Why is Zack so much better than me?" It all came out before I could stop myself.

She was still confused. "What?"

"Forget it," I told her.

"Oliver," she said and grabbed my hand to help me up off the ground. "Oliver, no one said Zack was better than you." she told me as she pulled some sticks out of my hair. I didn't stop her.

"I've been trying to teach myself to skateboard since I got home. Look at me!" She looked me up and down, noticing the holes in my pants and seeing my bloody knees. I lifted up my elbows to show her the cuts, and my face pretty much explained itself.

"Why'd you want to learn to skateboard? I could teach you sometime."

"Lil, don't you get it? Everything you said you liked about Zack, I had too. Except for the whole skateboarding thing. So this all was to impress you. Yeah, I said it. And now I'm leaving." I told her. She just stood there, taking it all in. "And you can keep your stupid skateboard. I hope you have a great life with Zack."

"Oliver, wait for a minute." she finally spoke.

"No, I wouldn't wanna interfere with you and your _boyfriend_. And on second thought, I'm keeping the skateboard. You gave it to me, so it's mine now. Yeah, what now?" I said as more of a statement than a question.

"Oliver, can you let me explain something?" she pleaded.

"What's to explain? You and Zack were holding hands, he kissed you, and now you get to live happily ever after while the best friend gets no one, as usual."

"Oliver, stop, Ok? Yes, I like Zack. A lot." she said.

"I know, I'm fully aware of that, Lil." I replied, holding the skateboard and walking away.

She hurried after me. "But Zack lives in Boston, Oliver. I mean, we can have fun while he's here, but we can't go out no matter how much it hurts."

"Cool, thanks for letting me know." I answered sarcastically, trudging down the sidewalk. "And you know what? I'm really glad that you guys have such an intimate relationship after only knowing him for only two days. I've known you my whole life and did I ever get a kiss? No. Did I even get a hand to hold? No." I told her over my shoulder, still walking forward.

"Why are you trying to make it seem like I'm such a horrible person?"

"I'm not," I replied, quickening my pace.

"You know, I really think you'd like Zack, Oliver."

"So I've heard."

"Well, can I explain something to you?"

"I'm listening," I said, walking a few steps ahead of her.

"Zack and me…we have something, Ok? I admit it, and I know you know that already. And we were sitting at Rico's…and we kissed." she explained.

"Why are you telling me this, Lil?" I turned around. This chick was making me so mad. Why was she rubbing it in my face?

"And it was a good kiss," she said, smiling a little.

"Great for you, Lil. Great for you." I turned around again and began walking.

"Oliver, will you let me finish?" she asked, getting frustrated. I didn't answer because I really didn't want to hear any more. So without warning, she jumped on my back. Since it was a surprise attack, I couldn't defend myself and we landed on the grass, me lying on my back with her on top of my stomach. Me helmet flew off and I had let go of the board.

"Hear me out, Ok? He knew something was wrong right after we kissed, and when he asked I wouldn't tell him. So he guessed…and he was right."

"Oh great! So now he knows you better than me, and now you're confiding in him instead of me? Perfect!"

She ignored me. "He knew there was another guy that I liked."

"Oh, two guys? Even better!" I said sarcastically.

She gave me a look to shut up. "He said that he wouldn't let me not go for the other guy, since Zack was leaving for Boston in a couple days. He didn't want me to ruin my relationship with the other guy just for him."

"Oh how very sweet of him! This day just keeps on getting better! Now could you please get off me, I'd like to get back to my grounding."

"Oliver, you're the other guy!" she said.

"I'll kill him!" I snapped, not even realizing that she said she liked me.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" she asked, looking a little hurt.

"Yeah, you said Oliver was the other guy. I'm gonna…" I trailed off…realizing that she said I was the other guy. "Wait…what?"


	18. NOT A CHAPTER

**a/n-ok guys i know you're expecting a chapter but im really sorry this isn't one. please forgive me, 10th grade is worse than 9th was. anyway, the reason for my author's note is for oliver.artemis. she did not fall off the face of the earth, and she will be updating her story soon! that is all.**

**again, please dont be too pissed at me. i kno im a bitch, but i need to make the last chapter a good one. i'm soo sorry 4 being such a bad updater. ill try to do a lot better on my next fic.**

**thanks again, i love u all. and remember: oliver.artemis will be updating her fic soon!**

**- 3-Erin**


	19. Ballroom Dancing: Take 3

**a/n-ok, i know this took sooo entirely long, and i'm very sorry for that. this is the last chapter, and i'm not happy with it at all, but i didn't want to keep you guys waiting at all. i'm sorry this chapters sucks so bad, but i am terrible at endings. i always have been. so just for future reference, in any of my stories, the ending will always suck horribly.**

**but, at least the story's finally done, meaning i can start working on my next story! ill put an authors note up when i know what i'm doing, just so u guys will know.**

**last but not least, i'd like to thank .every.single.one. of my reviewers. i have to go to sleep, and i honestly don't feel like going back to every page and naming all my reviewers like i usually do on the last chapter of my stories (im sorry, i just don't have the energy). But i loooove all of you, your reviews make me smile soo big. Everyone who read, and even if u didnt review, thank u all sooo much. love u all! - 3-Erin**

**(ok, here's what uve been waiting 4. sorry again 4 taking so long):**

Chapter 18: Ballroom Dancing: Take 3

I looked at her in disbelief. "Did…did you just say what I think you just said?" I asked, shocked.

"Maybe," Lilly replied flirtatiously.

"What! Since when have you liked me?" I asked, not bothering to tell her that she was still lying on top of me.

"I don't know…I've always kind of had a thing for you. And then Jake came along and I decided since I didn't have a shot with you, I might as well give up. And then I started liking Jake…but of course he liked Miley, not me. Plus, I saw how much of a jerk he could actually be, which really turned me off. And then I kissed you, which was amazing by the way, but I thought you didn't like me. I thought I had just made a huge mistake and ruined our friendship. So I lied to you about it. But really, I've wanted to kiss you since third grade."

"You're kidding!" I answered, still in shock.

"I'm completely serious."

"So, I've always liked you and you've always liked me? That's 15 years that we could have been going out down the drain! Why didn't you tell me?"

"The same reason you didn't tell me." she shrugged. Good point.

"Oh…" I said, taking all this information in.

"Yeah…"

"So…" I tried to strike up a conversation.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lilly realized our position and tried to get up, but I stopped her. I gently pulled her face to mine and we shared a kiss. Not a make-out session, not even a simple French kiss. It was just a sweet, gentle lip-lock, and it felt like it lasted forever.

I pulled away, smirking a little, as I sat up. Lilly had on the same smirk and also sat up. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "It's just something I've been meaning to do for a while. Sorry if I caught you off guard."

"You don't have to be sorry," Lilly smiled, showing all her pearly whites.

"You know, you could have any guy out there. Why do you want me?"

"'Cause I don't like just any guy out there. I like you. Not Jake, not Johnny, not Josh, or any of Miley's guys that start with a 'J'. And I especially don't like Chad. I like you, Oliver."

"Hey, Lil?"

"Yeah?"

"What happens if we go out, and then we break up and ruin our friendship?"

"I don't know. I would never want that to happen."

"Me neither," I agreed. "But would you ever wanna try going out, or just be friends with benefits?"

"Well, that depends." Lilly said, half-smiling.

"On what?" I asked, and she grabbed my hand.

"Well, are you actually asking me out or are you just asking what I think of the idea?"

I smiled and shrugged. "I don't know." She laughed, and we sat in silence until I spoke up again. "Hey, Lil?" I asked again, making it seem like I was going to ask her out.

"Yes, Oliver?"

"…You have something on your lip." I lied, making her all self-conscious.

"Where?" she asked, touching her fingers to her lips.

"Here," I said, leaning in for a kiss. She kissed back, and this kiss was much deeper and more meaningful than the first one.

"You're hilarious," Lilly laughed, pulling away.

"Hel, Lil?" I asked once again.

"What, Oliver?" she laughed, pretending to get mad.

"Will…will you be my girlfriend?"

She let out a relieved sigh. "You don't know how long I've been wanted you to ask me that." she smiled and pulled me in for another kiss. We began making out, and we lay back down on the ground. She ran her fingers through my hair, and my hands slowly traveled to her butt. We did this, completely forgetting our location. We were on some random person's lawn, with innocent bystanders staring at us disgustedly. We weren't aware of this, of course, until we heard someone clear their throat.

At first, I thought nothing of it, and continued kissing my girlfriend. Holy crap, that felt so weird to say. But anyway, the person cleared their throat again, only louder this time. I opened my eyes to see Mr. Stewart.

As soon as I realized this, I pulled apart from Lilly and she quickly did the same. "Hey there, Mr. S." Lilly laughed nervously.

"How's the weather up there?" I tried to make it less awkward.

"Apparently not as good as it is down there. Now come on you two, there are kids around." he explained and we got up.

"But we weren't doing anything," Lilly tried to deny what Mr. Stewart had just seen. It's kind of hard to cover that up though.

"Yeah, she just had something on her lip…"

"Yeah, and it was too gross to get it off with our hands…" Lilly added.

"Yeah, I see, but it wasn't too gross to use your lips?" Mr. S. laughed at us. "No go home, you two. And no more making out in the open."

"Yes sir." we saluted him as he walked in the opposite direction as us. Man, was that awkward. I picked up the skateboard and Lilly picked up my helmet, handing it to me.

"So, can you say awkward?" I asked.

"Yeah, I definitely can. Try one of the most awkward things of my life."

I chuckled. "Definitely."

"So how 'bout you show me some of that mad skateboarding skillage you have?"

"Nah, not now. I'm in a lot of pain." I smirked.

"Just to make things clear, you really didn't have to learn how to skateboard to try to impress me."

"How else would I impress you? It's not like anything else ever got your attention." I said in a kind of bitter tone.

"That's not true, Oliver! I loved your dancing! In the club and ballroom dancing! I mean, I didn't like Zack just because he skateboarded!"

She just _had_ to bring him up again. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You still like him and he still likes you. So it's kind of weird for us to go out until you get over him, isn't it?"

She was silent for a moment. "But, Oliver…I want to be your girlfriend. Not Zack's."

"Well don't you like Zack?"

"Yeah…and I'm really sorry. I just can't help it. But the thing is…Well you see…"

"Spit it out, Lil," I said impatiently.

"Oliver, I think…well I think I might…maybe…be in lo-like you a lot."

"That's not what you were gonna say," I told her knowingly.

"I know…but I couldn't make myself say it."

"Why not? Do you love me or don't you?" I asked her curiously.

"I love you in every way possible, Oliver…but I have no idea if I'm in love with you."

I nodded, understanding. "Well, what do you think love is?"

She shrugged. "What do you think it is?"

I shrugged too. "All I know is that I love you. I'm not saying I'm in love with you, but I know I love you." I replied, causing Lilly to blush and look down. "Did I embarrass you?"

"Nah," she smiled. "I'm just…flattered. No one's ever told me that they loved me before, besides my parents."

"I guess right now's a good time to start then, huh?"

She smiled. "I like hearing it."

"Do I get to hear anything in return?"

"I already told you I loved you in every way possible, what more do you want?"

I shrugged and gave her a quick peck on the lips. We held hands and I walked her to her doorstep. I gave her one last meaningful kiss before I left.

"Wow," she said, causing me to smile. "Hey, Oliver?" she asked as I began to walk away.

"Maybe I am in love with you." Lilly smiled, but was very embarrassed saying it.

I looked down, and then looked back up at her, grinning from ear to ear. "Good, I was kinda hoping you were. 'Cause I might just be in love with you too."

"How do we know for sure?" Lilly asked, a little worry in her voice. I walked up to her, feeling romantic, and took her hands in mine.

"I don't know." I told her honestly. "But I think when we are, we'll know, you know?"

"Right," Lilly smiled.

"Hey, you wanna dance?" I asked her.

"There's no music." she said matter-of-factly.

"Who cares," I smiled, and we began ballroom dancing, with the sun setting over the horizon.


End file.
